BTL-B Y-Wing (Star Wars)

[5thDay]

I have had this idea in mind for a while now and decided to to scale out the concept tonight using some 3" tubes and foam board as a 2D fuselage placeholder. It was this or Anakin's Podracer ans this one at least has the motors in the aft!

I have my much more involved Soyuz build and thread going on at the moment but would like to hear ideas on how others might attempt something like 2 this. I think with perhaps some thin clear plastic fins this could use stabilizing more typical on aircraft or some pop outs for glider recovery if I scoop air up through and over an airfoiled foam body.

 

[GlenP]

Very cool! You might be able to find some paper models that you could use for portions of the model, or to print your own decals.

This one for example even has a little R2-D2 unit in it:
https://tektonten.blogspot.com/2017/02/clone-wars-y-wing-paper-model.html

heck that part alone could be made into an MMX rocket, maybe.

 

[5thDay]

Thank you, I had not thought about using paper model templates to save myself time when using heavier stock or even polystyrene sheets on larger models. I haven't made my way into 3D yet but I am a pro at image manipulation and could scale and edit templates like that to great effect!

This Y-wing won't be pretty but as long as it allows me to test it in flight I can scale it way up and do a proper one. I would have preferred to model the BTL-A which was most often shown severely stripped down. Part of that look unfortunately involves structure aft of the intack engines and would give me a scary mid motor hotrod with equal potential to go unstable or to light itself on fire from exhaust

 

[modeltrains]

... preferred to model the BTL-A ...
or to light itself on fire from exhaust

BTL - A = Body Tube Lit - Aft

 

[5thDay]

Btl-A4 Y-Wing (stripped of unecessary weight) shown below for comparison.

Though a big sci-fi fan, of the few vehicles that may make good rocket candidates, none of them did anything like fly vertical off a rail until almost out of sight before descending under chutes. Even something massive like an Imperial Class Star Destroyer looks better hanging from a ceiling.

One extreme challenge I see in this vehicle is having two vectors that far apart needing to have identical performance from ignition to ejection. Who knows; if throttling motors at this scale becomes a thing in my lifetime I will come here and revive this thread.

 

[GlenP]

...One extreme challenge I see in this vehicle is having two vectors that far apart needing to have identical performance from ignition to ejection...

You can take some artistic license and put a single motor mount in the central body. There are several sci-fi/military themed model rocket kits that have two or three or four apparent outboard engine pods but are actually powered by a single central motor for simplicity and safety in the model rocket version. (the BSG Viper, Buck Rogers Starfighter, and the SR-71 and of course the X-Wing, for example)

 

[mjennings]

Cool I'll second the single center engine. Also the Manta Bomber looks nothing like Y-Wing Mr lawyer!
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/est1928.htm

 

[GlenP]

In an unrelated tangent, just happened to find Singin’ in the Rain on HBOmax, it stars Gene Kelly along with Princesss/General Leia’s mom. No, not Padme, Debbie Reynolds.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Building a Y Wing with Two or Three widely space motors does he. Hummm, the Dark Side I see in him.

 

[mjennings]

Motors with wide spaceing leads to skywriting, skywriting leads to angry RSO, angry RSO leads to suffering!
Master Rosa NAR #900
Really excited to see how this one goes but couldn't resist the Yoda paraphrase with @Daddyisabar set up

 

[mjennings]

I can't find it right now but about 15 years ago someone flew a very large scale Y-Wing at one of the big launches LDRS, BALLS, etc and there was a recovery system failure but is glided in. it worked a lot better than the large 4 motor X-wing cluster that was not one with the Force.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Motors with wide spaceing leads to skywriting, skywriting leads to angry RSO, angry RSO leads to suffering!
Master Rosa NAR #900
Really excited to see how this one goes but couldn't resist the Yoda paraphrase with @Daddyisabar set up

I sense much fear of widely spaced motors! I have read that the use of widely spaced motors is a hallmark of poor model rocket design. Then I built and flew several widely spaced abominations and changed franchises to fear is the mind killer.

 

[grapetang]

I can't find it right now but about 15 years ago someone flew a very large scale Y-Wing at one of the big launches LDRS, BALLS, etc and there was a recovery system failure but is glided in. it worked a lot better than the large 4 motor X-wing cluster that was not one with the Force.

(224) Plaster Wars 2007 Y-Wing - YouTube
(224) X-Wing Fighter Rocket - YouTube

Looked spectacular! Wish I could've been there!

 

[mjennings]

(224) Plaster Wars 2007 Y-Wing - YouTube
(224) X-Wing Fighter Rocket - YouTube

Looked spectacular! Wish I could've been there!

Thanks!

 

[Y3kankerous]

How about a main central motor then a couple of low power boosters on the outboards like 1/2As which wont do much more than flash then straight onto coast but will give some fantastic smoke trails while the centre motor does the work without thrust steer.
Similarly using long burners on the outboards (canted?) with the centre motor to keep it true.
Check out the ignition delay function in OR and see what delays of ~250 millis do to your lateral velocity wih different motor configs

 

[smstachwick]

(224) Plaster Wars 2007 Y-Wing - YouTube
(224) X-Wing Fighter Rocket - YouTube

Looked spectacular! Wish I could've been there!

I was there. Spectacular indeed.